Random House Home Video
Background: Random House Home Video was a home video unit established by Random House, publisher of most notably Dr. Seuss's books. In 1995, they begin distributing through Sony Wonder. The company went dormant in 2001 and remained that way for many years until 2010, when it was reorganized as Random House Children's Entertainment. 1st Logo (1983-1984, 1988) Nicknames: "Cheesy House", "The House", "The Random House", "Rainbow House", "Rainbow Random House", "Primitive Random House", "Primitive House" Logo: On a gray background, a thick drawing of a small building "slides" up. Another building grows behind it and the last one "slides" from the right side of it, forming a stylized house with heavy black outlines (Random House's corporate logo). After that, a square wipes in behind the house, with five lines in the left side which colors itself in with rainbow colors while the right one stays blank. Finally, the white words "RANDOM HOUSE VIDEO" with a black drop shadow fly in from the bottom of the house and the rainbow. FX/SFX: TBA Music/Sounds: A bell ring when the first part of the house "slides" up and a bright string-like synth that repeats itself as the bell fades to a synthesized drone. All of them are played on Yamaha DX-7. Availability: Ultra rare. Seen on the earliest Random House tapes. It makes a brief surprise appearance on the 1988 VHS of U.S. Government In Action: The Senate. Editor's Note: None. 2nd Logo (Late 1980s) Nicknames: "Random House Video Collections", "Cheesy House II", "The House II", "The Random House II", "Rainbow House II", "Rainbow Random House II", "The Filmstrip and the Cassette" Logo: We fade in to a white background where we see the Random House logo from before, with white door and windows. We suddenly zoom out to find out that the logo is actually a printing on a filmstrip container. It spins around and later opens up. A folded filmstrip comes out of the container, later unfolding. Floating by its side comes an audio cassette, with the dark blue-background label "RH", with the B&W Random House logo right beside it. The audio cassette and the filmstrip suddenly enter the "tape" edge of a VHS tape, which has the text "RANDOM HOUSE, INC." on the tape label, and also contains the Random House logo on the end label. The VHS enters a VCR, later lighting up. We pan into a television screen with the Random House logo on a violet background, later filling up the whole screen. The logo zooms out, and the following text fades in: RANDOM HOUSE PRESENTS Depending of the video collection distributed on the tape, more text fades in below: Appearance Variants: *On Newbery Video Collection tapes, it reads: FROM THE NEWBERY VIDEO COLLECTION *On Caldecott Video Collection tapes, it reads: FROM THE CALDECOTT VIDEO COLLECTION FX/SFX: TBA Music/Sounds: A lower pitched and extended version of the 1st logo's theme. Availability: Ultra rare. The Newbery variant was seen on Call It Courage and the 1989 VHS of Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mt. St. Helens, while the Caldecott variant was seen on a 1988 VHS of The Polar Express. Editor's Note: None. 3rd Logo (1984-2001, 2002-2010) Nicknames: "Cheesy House III", "The House III", "The Random House III", "Rainbow House III", "Rainbow Random House III", "Slightly Less Cheesy House", "The Sesame Street Logo", "The Dr. Seuss Logo", "The P.D. Eastman Logo", "The Berenstain Bears Logo", "The Richard Scarry Logo", "The Arthur Logo" Logo: On a shady amethyst-colored background, six rainbow-colored lines are drawn onto the screen by light rays, in different directions. The lines sharply angle around 45 degrees near the edge of the screen. As the lines begin to finish drawing, the parts of a stylized house (the same one from before) begin to slide onto the screen at the area where the lines suddenly slope. The rainbow and the house zoom out as the rainbow begins to retract. The sloped section disappears completely, and a diagonal beam of light draws a sharp black outline around the house and the rainbow. The words "RANDOM HOUSE" fades in underneath the rainbow/house combo, and the words "HOME VIDEO" zoom in from the center. Variant: On the Beginner Book videos and the 1993-1994 Richard Scarry's Best Videos Ever! videos, the logo is still. FX/SFX: The rainbow effects, the sliding houses, the formation of the company name, all done by '80s computer effects. This was animated by Michael Sporn Studios in New York. Music/Sounds: A synthesized piece of music that ends with a synthesized cymbal crescendo as "RANDOM HOUSE" fades in. A chime arpeggio is heard as "HOME VIDEO" zooms in, followed by a deep bass note, and a brief synthesized auto harp stinger before the logo fades out. Music/Sounds Variant: On the Beginner Book videos and the 1993-1994 Richard Scarry's Best Videos Ever! videos, the customized ending theme is heard. Availability: Uncommon. It appeared on VHS tapes and DVDs of the Beginner Book videos, The Berenstain Bears' First Time Video, Dr. Seuss Video Classics, Sesame Street Home Video, Richard Scarry's Best Videos Ever!, and Arthur. It also appeared on certain DVDs of the later series like Arthur's Perfect Christmas, Arthur's New Puppy, and others. It last appeared on 2008 and 2009 DVDs of The Berenstain Bears (1980's series) and on 2009 and 2010 videos of Random House Beginner Book Video on Youku. The print logo was originally in black and/or white, but was given color from 1994 onward. Editor's Note: None. Category:Logos Category:Scary Logos Category:1980s production logos Category:1990s production logos Category:2000s production logos Category:2010s production logos Category:Old Logos Category:Defunct Category:Defunct in 1988 Category:Universal Studios